


Infinitesimal

by pxrcival



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: College AU, F/M, Gen, M/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 08:18:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9876008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pxrcival/pseuds/pxrcival
Summary: In one world, Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third dies from a gunshot, administered by Anna Ripley, with the sounds of his friends' screams ringing in his ears.In another, Percy de Rolo wakes up in a hospital bed to Vex'ahlia's arms wrapped around him, the taste of blood on his tongue and a very confusing situation.[ Set around episode 68. Spoilers for before then! ]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> • Hello! First piece of Critical Role fanfiction, because I am Vex, Percy AND Perc'ahlia trash! 
> 
> Find me on tumblr @ http://www.pxrcival.tumblr.com :>
> 
> Also, sorry not sorry. This is the only chapter that will include Vex's perspective, probably, though I'm not sure yet. Woo! Enjoy! •

They were prepared for anything the world could have thrown at them. The mechanisms of Vox Machina, he'd learnt, were perfect in their imperfections - to liken them to a machine as he did with so many other things would be an insult to just how alive his friends were. He loved them with a passion like no other, the way he loved his creations and the quiet of night. He loved them both individually and collectively, and in that moment, he loved them as though they were his family. There was no group of people he'd rather face Ripley with. 

The moment he'd stepped into that battle, facing once more the ghosts of his past, Percy could feel the target in his back. And as the fight wore on, he could feel himself slipping further and further, until all he could manage was one final stand. One final 'fuck you'. An apology. His hair was still white, his skin still scarred, and the de Rolos still dead, but as the words left him he could feel a weight leave him as well. He'd died once already, and from the look on her face, she wouldn't stop until he fell once more. He wasn't surprised. He'd looked at her like that too, once. The blows kept coming, but the fire never faded, and slowly he found himself unable to even stand, prone upon the floor as he looked up to meet her eyes. 

Anna Ripley readied her pistol. He heard the click across the battlefield, even as his vision blurred and his hearing faded. It was a sound familiar to him, one of his own creation, but now tainted by the woman he'd finally managed to forgive. 

Faintly, he could tell his friends - no, his family - were shouting out for him. And even as he stared into death itself, he managed a smile. To have them here by his side meant so much to him - and it was sad, truly, that he'd never get the chance to tell them so. He hoped they'd be okay without him.

Cursed laughter. The bang of a gunshot. The screams of his friends. 

Then, silence. 

\---

This was his punishment. He'd spent his entire life anticipating it, and here it finally was. 

A life - or, well, death - spent living in his own sins. He could feel them. Creeping, encompassing, consuming his body and mind until there was nothing left. Orthax's thrall had been strong over him once, and he had felt the corruption like a singing flame then. But here it felt like a torrent of fire all around him, stripping away his essence until all he could taste was smoke, all he could feel was sick dragging heat, and all he could hear was - 

"Percy?"

\- Vex'ahlia?

"Percy!"

Vax'ildan. Surely, a sick game played by Orthax. 

"Oh, he's waking up!"  
"Quick, Vex, get someone!"

But the darkness was fading, and in the corners of his mind, he was sure he could hear them. Orthax shrieked, and the pain they shared split through him, but even that was enough to lift his heart. Because they'd saved him. His wonderful, brilliant friends, friends he didn't deserve but still kept him around for reasons he didn't quite understand. 

The darkness slipped away for good, Orthax's cloying influence dissipating, and Percy finally found the strength to open his eyes -

"It's going to be okay, Percy, Vex ran and got the nurses. You're at the hospital. You're going to be fine!"

\- and saw Pike, sans armour and gauntlets and necklace of Sarenrae and everything that made her Pike, stood over him with a bright grin.

He wanted to say something. He wanted to say a lot of things, actually, mainly "what's a hospital?", but his mouth faltered as his brain stalled, and within seconds of waking up he felt himself promptly pass out once more. 

\---

"He woke up, and then just... went again?" Vex frowned down at the unconscious form of their friend, her fingers softly resting across Percy's limp hand. Like this, he almost looked as though he was just sleeping. You could almost forget the dark muscles bruising his chest, just out of sight, and the broken bones beneath the skin. 

Vax, with his own eyes trained on Percy as he perched on a chair, nodded. "He looked terrified, Vex. Like he didn't know any of us. Doctors said it was normal, but shit, what if he has amnesia or something?" He swallowed, and Vex saw him bite his lip, a stress habit he'd had since childhood. Though both of the twins had managed to keep their cool in front of their friends, but now alone with him, Vex knew exactly how Vax was feeling. She traced another circle over the back of Percy's hand. 

"No way." She said after a long moment, forcing a smile. "Percy wouldn't forget us. He couldn't if he wanted to." She didn't look up again, but heard Vax quietly mumble an agreement, though perhaps it was more for him than for her. 

The door nudged open, jolting both twins out of their reveries, and the comfortingly familiar face of Pike popped through.

"Anything new?" She smiled at them, though it faded slightly at the looks on their faces. "Well, you heard them. He's going to be fine. Just takes a while to adjust, I guess! I called Scanlan anyway, he and Grog are on their way. Cassandra's still in the waiting room."

"Poor girl." She heard Vax sigh, and Vex nodded to herself, wincing at the thought. The de Rolos had seen their fair share of tragedy in their lives, and she could only imagine how it felt for Cassandra to end up in a waiting room once more, praying for her only remaining family to wake up. 

Behind Pike, she heard Keyleth mumble something, and then the door swung open as the two women made their way fully in. Crossing the room with ease, Vex watched as Keyleth slipped her hand into Vax's, who reached up to wipe a tearstain away from her face. She forced herself to look away, ignoring the stinging sensation in her chest, and instead focused on Percy. Her sweet Percival, perfect even as he was laid out beneath her like a king in his tomb, staring up at her with narrowed eyes. She gasped softly, watching in wonder as his eyes focused. Across the room, Vax and Keyleth and Pike continued to talk quietly. They hadn't yet noticed him stirring. For a moment, it was simply her and Percy's bleary expression. She squeezed his hand softly, and then whispered, "Hello Percival."

He blinked once, twice, then spoke with a voice like dry wood. "Hello, Vex'ahlia." 

He remembered her. Before she could stop them, tears sprang to her eyes - so to hide them, she flung her arms around his neck as gingerly as she could manage in the moment and pulled him close. Behind her, she could hear Vax spring to his feet, and the elated chatter of Keyleth and Pike, but all of it faded to white noise as she she hugged him close. She waited for his arms to wrap around her in return - but they never did. In fact, Percy hadn't moved an inch, whether it be to push her away or bring her closer. Slowly, she pulled away, puzzled expression now matching those of their friends, as his eyes slid from them to the room around them with an expression of undiluted wonder and fear. They waited for a long moment, she and Vax exchanging looks of "the fuck?" and "dunno, you tell me" until eventually he blinked and glanced back, as though he'd only just remembered they were there. His eyes were cloudy again. Vex's heart hurt. 

"I..." He started, then faltered, then coughed and swallowed and began again. "I'm feeling a bit confused right now." Then, "I don't really know where I am."

Vex froze. Percy had seen his family slip away from him in this hospital, he'd told them one night, one by one, until all he and Cassandra had was each other. For him to not recognise, or even realize, where they were...

Vex felt Pike, ever the saviour, nudge forward and gently edge her to the side to reach him. The gentle touch jolted her, and she after a second she moved back to let her talk. 

"That's okay, Percy." Vex smiled to herself as Pike, with ease, switched on her motherly tone. "The doctors warned us about this. We have some things about your life lined up, just to tell you and jog your memory. What can you remember?"

When Percy didn't reply, apparently opting to continue to glare at the floral mattress before him as though it were the most vexing thing he'd ever come across, Vax coughed quietly and added, "Where do you want us to start might be a better question, pickle." 

Pike glanced back at them, then nodded. "Percy. Where do you want us to start from?"

The four of them watched in tense silence as Percy inhaled shakily, glancing around the room once more, before slowly looking up. He swallowed, and then, finally, spoke. 

"From...from the very beginning, please."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sooooo much for the reception this fic has received! I am honestly so, so grateful, and so excited to continue on.  
> Fancy seeing more of my work and art I've drawn for the fic already, or asking questions which I'll be delighted to answer? Check out my [tumblr here!](http://pxrcival.tumblr.com)
> 
> There won't be an update schedule - however, I have most of the fic mapped out, so I'm going to aim for every four days or so.   
> Thank you, and enjoy! ~

At his request, he watched Pike, Vax, Keyleth and Vex all give one another Very Worried Looks. Pike had said they’d been told to expect this. Expect what? That their friend would wake up as an entirely different version of himself? And by who? Were there healers under a different name around? The sound of Keyleth talking, familiar and yet hauntingly different when it came from someone who was without antlers, jolted him back to focus.

They took turns talking. Keyleth, Vex, Vax, Pike. Vex, he noticed, had said the most, and that stupid little detail was enough to make him smile to himself. Then, halfway through their honestly quite one-sides discussion, Scanlan and an absolute mammoth of a man he didn’t recognise came in holding a white box and settled in the room, chipping in where they needed to or wherever Scanlan felt the need to make a joke. Some things never changed, he supposed. And over the course of an hour, Percival learned about his life.

He was a 20 year old male living in a place called Boston, where he was studying Engineering at a college he didn’t recall the name of. It was here that he had met Vex, Keyleth, Scanlan and Pike - and from those friendships he’d met Vax and Grog (it clicked then that the tall, muscled and altogether very human male he hadn’t recognised was Grog, and he felt another thread of his sanity snap). The seven of them had become very close very quickly, all sharing a mutual interest in ‘video games and getting pissed’ and often could be found in Percival’s own home, where they would meet at least once a week to 'watch films, drink, and be merry’. Again, some things never changed, though he’d be damned if he had any clue what a film and/or video game was.

He sat and watched the group of friends laugh amongst themselves, teasing and trading inside jokes. Once or twice they got off track, lost in a story about 'that one time Scanlan pissed on an old lady’, only occasionally remembering to glance at Percy and see if this was ringing any bells. Which it wasn’t, but pissing on an old lady sounded like a very Scanlan thing to do, so he smiled and nodded and ignored the guilty feeling that sprung up in response to how excited they looked when he remembered something. It dawned on him then, in those moments, that these were not his friends. Yes, they wore their faces and voices and something that vaguely resembled their clothes, but his friends were waiting for him in Exandria. Not here. No matter how alluring the warmth of their friendship seemed.

The good atmosphere didn’t last forever. He could almost feel the mood of the room drop when his family was inevitably brought up, surprisingly by Vax. He sat, stone still, as his friends went on to explain that halfway through his second year at college, Percy had received a phone call from Cassandra about how they had all been killed in a house fire. Cassandra herself had been caught in the inferno, but had managed to escape into the night - and caught Sylas doing the same. Without her testimony, Pike told him, there was little to no chance of Sylas ever being caught. He stifled a sad chuckle - even in this world, it seemed he was destined to be without his family, and his sister was destined to be a badass. The absence of any mention of Delilah was curious, but he’d figured by this point that this wasn’t his world to worry about, and asking after her would definitely look suspicious if he supposedly couldn’t remember anything else.

He also picked up little things. Apparently, this Percy was much less of an asshole than he was, probably due to the fact that the trauma of losing his family happened while he was surrounded by his friends. As well as that, and most shocking of all, was that this world was completely void of magic.

Of course, that was impossible. Percy knew that the only way he could’ve ended up here was through magic. But his friends, stood before him with varying levels of concern on their faces, were all undeniably human. Even Grog. Even Scanlan and Pike. And Pike herself, devoid of anything baring Sarenrae’s mark, seemed to be a shining beacon that nothing he knew to be true was the same here.

Honestly, he wanted to pass out again. But that wouldn’t have done anyone any favours. Finally, the talking slowed, and the six others turned to look at him, clearly waiting with baited breath for his response. Momentarily he fantasised about telling them the truth, that he was not actually their Percy, and instead they had received a much shittier version with mental health issues and a death wish. But he held his tongue, opting instead to nod slowly and make a face like he was thinking hard. Which he was. Just, not the thoughts they would’ve been expecting.

“I’ll need time.” His throat was raw and his voice was raspy, probably a result of the time he’d spent asleep - three days, Pike had told him - but he swallowed hard and tried his hardest to look convincing. “But everything you’re saying makes sense. It just doesn’t seem to want to fit together in my head.”

“That’s alright, darling.” He felt Vex'ahlia’s hand on his own even before he could look at her. Out of all of their friends, she seemed the most familiar, and the sight of a bright blue feather tucked behind her ear was enough to make his heart soar. “Visiting hours are nearly over, and I doubt you’ll be ready to leave anytime soon. Getting hit by a car isn’t good for you, I heard.” She laughed, and Percy smiled awkwardly, making a mental note to find out what a car actually was so he could fully understand exactly what his body had gone through. Perhaps it was a large bird. Or a spell, under some other name or form.

One by one, his friends filed out, until it was only him and Keyleth left. She looked odd, without antlers, but still he noted a crown of flowers still resting on her ginger head. She studied him for a very long moment, eyebrows drawn together in a deep frown, and he almost felt himself getting nervous. At home, Keyleth was the only one who could tell when he wasn’t himself. It would make sense if that was the same here - though 'not himself’ carried unfortunate implications for him in this world. Eventually, though, she simply sighed and patted his hand, muttering “Get well soon, Perc.” before following the rest of their friends and leaving him alone in the strange room.

And Gods, strange it was. In fact, the word 'strange’ didn’t even begin to describe it. There were multiple sounds that were almost musical, though after a while he could feel them grating on him. He was somewhat familiar with wiring, having worked with it a few times in his inventions, but this? The hum of what he could vaguely tell was electricity replaced what was normally the whisper of magic, and he felt just a step closer to figuring out just where he had ended up. Not that it mattered. Within a week, he was sure he’d close his eyes and wake up in Ank'Harel once more. Perhaps this wasn’t even real, and was just some vivid hallucination while his body recovered from death.

Or maybe, just maybe, this was death. The thought was both incredibly comforting and disconcerting at the same time. On the one hand, he got to spend his time in the afterlife with his friends. On the other, they weren’t really his friends, but instead some weird echoes of them, and also he’d spent most of his life expecting to end up in Purgatory for the sizeable amount of blood on his hands, so the change of scenery was very unexpected. Unless this was Purgatory. It could very well be Purgatory.

The machines beside him continued to beep. His head continued to throb, and his bones continued to ache. In the back of his mind, a switch seemed to flip, and he found himself suddenly very sleepy.

Yeah, probably Purgatory.

Ah well. At least he had a good run.

-

_ “Anything, Pike?” _

_ “I’m trying, Vex! All I can find is...well, him.” _

_ “Oh. That’s me, isn’t it? Uh. Sorry. I can leave, if you want?” _

_ “No! No! You’re fine- actually, yeah, no, go out there with Grog for a second. Thanks-” _

_ Silence, the vague noise of a door closing.  _

_ “Anything now, Pike?” _

_ “Jeez, Vex, it’s only been a few sec- Wait. Wait! No, I have him! Percy! Percy, are you there? It’s okay. We’ve found you! Everything’s going to be-” _

Percy woke up with tears on his cheeks and all of the words he’d been trying desperately to say back lying heavy on his tongue. What had he just experienced? His friends, trying to find him and bring him home? Or some sick, twisted game that was being played on him in order to punish him for his many, many sins? And he’d heard his own voice in the mix, albeit far more...well, young sounding. Whatever the case, throughout the rest of the day, all he could think of was Pike calling out to the darkness. Calling out to him.  
  
“We’ve found you.”


End file.
